The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) will conduct a public meeting on the date and time noted below to consider approval of the Proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26 and FY 2026-27 Funding Plan for the Air Quality Improvement Program (Proposed AQIP Funding Plan).
Date: June 25, 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: California Environmental Protection Agency
California Air Resources Board | Byron Sher Auditorium
1001 I Street Sacramento, California 95814
This public meeting may continue at 9:00 a.m., on June 26, 2026. Please consult the public agenda, which will be posted ten days before the June 25, 2026, Board Meeting, for important details, including the day on which this item will be considered and how the public can participate via Zoom if they choose to be remote.
Background
To achieve California’s federally mandated air quality targets and State directed climate change goals, CARB has adopted a holistic, multipronged strategy that uses incentives to complement its regulatory approaches. Annually, the State Legislature appropriates funds to CARB for certain programs, purposes, or a portfolio of incentive projects, and each project plays a unique role to improve air quality, enhance community protection, and reduce harmful emissions. The portfolio of incentives includes continually funded programs like the Carl Moyer Memorial Attainment Program and the Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), along with annually appropriated programs like the Low Carbon Transportation Incentives, Funding Agricultural Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER), and the Community Air Protection (CAP) Program. Over the last 25 years, $12 billion dollars have been invested, achieving over 11 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Since 2009, CARB has received an annual appropriation from the Air Quality Improvement Fund (AQIF) to support projects in AQIP. The AQIP regulation requires CARB to develop a funding plan to allocate funds to incentive projects. These incentive projects are designed to support the deployment of the cleanest available technologies – in many cases zero-emission – across multiple sectors. AQIP has traditionally supported a diverse portfolio of technologies at different stages of commercialization, with investments shaped by legislative direction and statewide policy goals. The Proposed AQIP Funding Plan builds on this broader portfolio by outlining CARB’s policy drivers and implementation approach specific to AQIP. Legislative direction requires AQIP funding to support incentive projects that advance the State’s emission reduction goals, as identified in the Climate Change Scoping Plan, State Implementation Plans, and California Sustainable Freight Action Plan, as well as Sustainable Communities Strategies pursuant to SB 375. Current legislative and executive direction, including Governor Newsom’s Executive Orders N-79-204 and N-27-25,5 continue to emphasize accelerating the development and deployment of the cleanest feasible mobile source technologies while improving equitable access to clean transportation. Consistent with these directives, AQIP investments incorporate equity-focused strategies, including engagement with overburdened communities and California Native American Tribes, and targeted support for populations disproportionately impacted by air pollution and climate change.
In FY 2025-26, the budget bills passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor appropriated approximately $35 million to CARB in the Proposed AQIP Funding Plan for Board approval. For FY 2026–27, the Governor’s proposed budget, released in January 2026, included approximately $35 million for AQIP. Together, these amounts total approximately $70 million proposed for Board approval in this Funding Plan.